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Dear Esther

A trip through a brilliantly conceived landscape that rewards attentive engagement with a moving story
Dear Esther Game Cover
75%Game Brain Score
story, graphics
replayability, grinding
78% User Score Based on 3,067 reviews
Critic Score 70%Based on 3 reviews

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Dear Esther Game Cover

About

Dear Esther is a single player simulation game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by The Chinese Room and was released on February 14, 2012. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Dear Esther is a ghost story, told using first-person gaming technologies. Rather than traditional game-play the focus here is on exploration, uncovering the mystery of the island, of who you are and why you are here. Fragments of story are randomly uncovered when exploring the various locations of the island, making every each journey a unique experience.

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Dear Esther screenshot
Dear Esther screenshot
Dear Esther screenshot
Dear Esther screenshot
Dear Esther screenshot
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78%
Audience ScoreBased on 3,067 reviews
story558 positive mentions
replayability19 negative mentions
  • Stunning visuals and sound design create an immersive atmosphere.
  • The narrative is poetic and thought-provoking, allowing for personal interpretation.
  • A unique experience that challenges traditional gameplay mechanics.
  • Extremely short playtime, typically around 1-2 hours.
  • Lack of interactivity and gameplay elements can lead to boredom.
  • The story can be vague and confusing, making it hard to engage with.
  • story
    2,042 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Dear Esther" is a poignant exploration of loss, grief, and memory, conveyed through fragmented narration as players traverse a desolate Hebridean island. While some find the narrative beautifully abstract and open to interpretation, others criticize it for being vague and disjointed, leading to mixed feelings about its emotional impact. Ultimately, the game serves more as an interactive story than a traditional game, inviting players to piece together the protagonist's tragic past through atmospheric visuals and haunting audio.

    • “Dear Esther is a beautifully atmospheric short story that unfolds as you make your way through a desolate world.”
    • “The story is haunting and powerful, with scenes that were really moving.”
    • “Dear Esther is a testament to pushing the boundaries between games and storytelling.”
    • “The game's pace, lack of real gameplay, and the disconnected story might make this a hard pass for a lot of people.”
    • “The story is just too vague.”
    • “However, the story such as it is adds nothing to the experience.”
  • graphics
    610 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics in "Dear Esther" are widely praised for their stunning beauty and atmospheric detail, often described as breathtaking and reminiscent of a painting. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to create an immersive experience through its visuals, which effectively complement the haunting soundtrack and narrative. While some note that the graphics may not be cutting-edge by today's standards, they still stand out as a significant achievement for a game built on the aging Source engine.

    • “The visuals are simply breathtaking, with sweeping vistas of windswept cliffs and desolate beaches that look like they've been plucked straight out of a painting.”
    • “Stunning visuals are accompanied by hauntingly beautiful music, both perfectly symbolizing not only the Hebridean isle on which you find yourself, but also a sense of isolation, and the sadness the story weaves into your consciousness.”
    • “The graphics are gorgeous, the atmosphere is exceedingly lonely and evocative, the music is good, the writing and narration wonderful... it adds up to a beautiful, tragic, and slightly surreal exploration of grief that is worth the price of admission.”
    • “The graphics are not impressive and before I could really put my heart into the hands of the game, it was over, with a quite predictable ending as well.”
    • “The visuals are bland and repetitive, as there isn't much on the island, and the graphics are dated (think HL2 on medium).”
    • “It's barely a game at all, being little more than a somewhat interactive book with visuals.”
  • music
    550 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Dear Esther" is widely praised for its haunting beauty and emotional depth, effectively enhancing the game's atmospheric experience. Composed by Jessica Curry, the soundtrack is described as both soothing and evocative, perfectly complementing the stunning visuals and narrative. While some players noted issues with the integration of music and narration, the overall consensus is that the soundtrack significantly contributes to the game's artistic impact and emotional resonance.

    • “The soundtrack is well-chosen and the melodies are delivered at the right time.”
    • “Stunning visuals are accompanied by hauntingly beautiful music, both perfectly symbolizing not only the Hebridean isle on which you find yourself, but also a sense of isolation, and the sadness the story weaves into your consciousness.”
    • “Dear Esther is a beautiful game that does well at setting its mood through music, narration, sound, and visuals.”
    • “While the music and environment look and sound really great, this is just very boring.”
    • “You can’t regulate the volume of speech, environmental sounds, and music separately, so whenever the narrator talks, the string quartet or piano is giving you yet another headache while you are trying to make out his babbling.”
    • “The much touted soundtrack cuts in and out with awful editing; at first I thought it was to add to the disquieting atmosphere, but in hindsight it was probably just lazy like the story.”
  • gameplay
    331 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay in "Dear Esther" is widely criticized for its minimalistic approach, primarily consisting of walking and exploring without any traditional mechanics or challenges. Many reviewers describe it as a "walking simulator" with no interactivity, emphasizing that the experience focuses more on storytelling and atmosphere rather than gameplay. While some appreciate its artistic and narrative qualities, others find the lack of gameplay elements disappointing and unengaging.

    • “The gameplay is easy, so even 'non-gamers' can have a great time with this game's story.”
    • “Not only is it aesthetically pleasing, the gameplay is also incredibly immersive.”
    • “The gameplay consists of just walking - it's one of those games.”
    • “In terms of gameplay, there is no real gameplay to speak of; it's simply a walking, exploration game, as the background of the characters and island are revealed as you move along.”
    • “The gameplay is incredibly simple; it is just a first-person walkaround game with no mechanics beyond walking and looking around.”
    • “Dear Esther is designed as more of a storytelling experience than a gameplay experience, and it completely fails at integrating gameplay elements to enhance the story.”
  • atmosphere
    323 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its beauty, depth, and emotional resonance, with many reviewers highlighting the stunning visuals, haunting soundtrack, and immersive sound design that create a captivating experience. Players often describe the atmosphere as melancholic, eerie, and contemplative, effectively drawing them into the narrative and enhancing the overall storytelling. While some critique the limited gameplay and vague narrative, the overwhelming consensus is that the game's atmospheric qualities make it a unique and memorable experience.

    • “The atmosphere is beautiful -- feels like you really are there wandering around on some dream-like island.”
    • “The atmosphere, graphics, and soundtrack were nice.”
    • “The atmosphere pulls you in, the music coaxes you along.”
    • “The much touted soundtrack cuts in and out with awful editing; at first I thought it was to add to the disquieting atmosphere, but in hindsight, it was probably just lazy like the story.”
    • “Atmosphere and pretty graphics don’t mean much if the character you’re playing as has zero personality and has no interactivity with the environment around them.”
    • “It's a piece of modern art that combines music, visuals, storytelling, and atmosphere.”
  • emotional
    169 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of "Dear Esther" is widely praised for its profound storytelling, stunning visuals, and haunting soundtrack, which together create a deeply moving experience that resonates with players. Many reviewers noted that the game evokes strong feelings, often leading to tears, as it explores themes of grief, loneliness, and introspection through a minimalist narrative and immersive environment. While some found the lack of interactivity limiting, those open to its artistic approach found it to be a powerful emotional journey that transcends traditional gaming experiences.

    • “The poetic writing, visuals, and music swell up into an emotional experience.”
    • “Dear Esther is a beautiful, touching, moving experience.”
    • “Touching and visually captivating in equal measure, Dear Esther is a brief yet nonetheless poignant example of how the medium of gaming is more than capable of producing beautiful and contemplative works that can provoke great emotion, backed by a strong musical score setting the perfect wistful tones to accompany the bleak isolation and inward reflection of the journey.”
  • replayability
    74 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game's replayability is widely criticized, with many reviewers noting its short length and linear narrative as significant drawbacks. While some elements, such as randomly generated dialogue and branching paths, offer slight variations in experience, most players agree that the game lacks substantial replay value, making it more suitable for a one-time experience rather than repeated playthroughs. A few players appreciate the emotional depth and subtle narrative details that encourage revisiting, but these sentiments are overshadowed by the general consensus of limited replayability.

    • “It is worth noting some items and dialogue are randomly generated, which adds both replayability to the game and layers to the story as you encounter new items and different dialogue on each playthrough.”
    • “Every time you play the game, more random storylines are told, so the replayability is high.”
    • “If only it wouldn't be so short, but thankfully it has a good replay value since it gives a slightly altered experience during every playthrough.”
    • “No replay value despite the 'multiple stories', and a waste of a dollar and change.”
    • “The problem is Dear Esther is like one hour long and it has no replay value.”
    • “It's a very short experience (with little replay value), which will make it hard to justify its retail price unless it's on sale.”
  • grinding
    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game is characterized by a slow and tedious pace that can detract from the overall experience, making it feel monotonous for some players. While the narrative and exploration elements are praised, many reviewers find the lack of engaging gameplay mechanics leads to a sense of boredom, particularly for those not fully invested in the story. Overall, the game may appeal to a niche audience but is likely to be seen as tedious by a broader player base.

    • “It is worth checking out at least once, but is too tedious to be worth replaying.”
    • “You can't even press the space bar to jump to break the tedium of this one (and believe me, it gets very tedious).”
    • “In terms of gameplay, Dear Esther is tedious and dull.”
  • optimization
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the optimization of the game has received mixed reviews. While some players appreciate the beautiful visuals and smooth performance, others have experienced significant issues, including crashes and poor optimization, particularly in comparison to similar titles. In contrast, "Dear Esther" is noted for its excellent optimization, providing a fluid experience across various hardware.

    • “Born as a free Half-Life 2 mod, Dear Esther has evolved into a fully-fledged source 'art-game', extremely well optimized, offering a pleasant and fluid experience on basically any hardware.”
    • “Heck, I think now that Montague's Mount is sort of a rip-off of Dear Esther, except it was poorly optimized and had annoying puzzles.”
    • “The writing, performance, and story are all adequately interesting and pleasantly delivered to make this product feel like an augmented short story or poem, with competent audio and visual support.”
    • “For this reason alone, I deeply appreciated the smoothness of its detailed gloomy environments and overall high-resolution graphical performance.”
  • humor
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is characterized by its clever and relatable characters, often delivering laughs through absurd situations and a fractured narrative that keeps players guessing. While some find the humor to be hilariously confusing, it effectively balances comedy with deeper themes, making for a unique and entertaining experience. Overall, the game is praised for its ability to blend humor with various emotional tones, creating a fun and engaging atmosphere.

    • “You can jump out of the water, generally with hilarious results.”
    • “The characters are relatable, deep, and funny at the right time.”
    • “First time through, it's hilariously confusing.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is marred by glitches that occasionally necessitate restarting areas, along with issues like hard-to-hear dialogue and overlapping audio. Despite these problems, some players find the experience enjoyable and soothing, particularly for those seeking a less interactive, dreamlike journey.

    • “Hard to hear dialogue, terrible graphics, glitches, and overlapping audio made the experience unpleasant, actually.”
    • “This is not a highly interactive game, and I did encounter a couple of glitches that required restarting the area I was in.”
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70%Critics’ scoreBased on 3 critic reviews

3h Median play time
3h Average play time
1h Main story
2h Completionist
2-5h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 17 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Dear Esther is a simulation game with fantasy theme.

Dear Esther is available on PC, Mac OS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and others.

The main story can be completed in around 1 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 2 hours to finish. On average players spend around 3 hours playing Dear Esther.

Dear Esther was released on February 14, 2012.

Dear Esther was developed by The Chinese Room.

Dear Esther has received mostly positive reviews from both players and critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its replayability.

Dear Esther is a single player game.

Similar games include The Old City: Leviathan, Kentucky Route Zero, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, Gone Home, What Remains of Edith Finch and others.